Walk In
by ioanna.hearts.you
Summary: Based on the last Deleted Scene (Alternate Ending) of Out of Sight, Out of Time, Preston Winters has just arrived at the Gallagher Academy.


**Thank you very much for reading. I had written a couple of stories under the penname Jojo1981, but that was a few years ago, and I had some problems with the email I used, so here I am now! I don't know how fast this story will progress, but I'm very interested in it, and I hope that it will go at a steady pace. Okay, I'll stop talking...**

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"Preston?" Macey asked. "Huh. You always manage to be where nobody expects you to, don't you?"

"Boston, Rome, now… I suppose you make a fair point. But I am here," he said, as if we were expecting him to laugh and run away mocking us.

"Come to my office please," my mom said. "Quickly. Cammie, why don't you lead the way?"

I understood what she meant. Preston wasn't meant to be seen by anybody. "Why don't you guys go around? We'll meet you there."

Luckily, it was late enough in the evening that most girls had gone to their rooms, and we could take less dusty passages with the same results. We got to the Hall of History without meeting a single soul. "Who knows you're here?" Zach suddenly slipped out of the shadows. I hadn't noticed him, but tried to hide my surprise.

"Nobody knows I'm here, here. Plenty of people probably know I'm gone by now."

"And I suppose you've given some kind of reason as to why they can't find you, right?"

Preston looked uncomfortable. "Well… no. But I didn't take a jet directly to Roseville!"

Zach's look was part mocking and part murderous, but I nudged him. "Good thinking, Preston," I said, and even though Preston clearly understood that I was only saying so to cheer him up, he smiled.

We walked into mom's office and saw that Aunt Abby had joined the party. She was leaning against mom's desk next to Mr. Solomon, while Bex, Macey, and Liz were squeezed on the couch. Preston sat in the chair across the desk from my mom, and Zach and I stood by the door like odd bodyguards. "Lock the door please," mom said and I obliged. Then she turned to Preston. "Preston, of course you are welcome here. But we might be in a great hurry. So tell me, who knows you're here?"

"Nobody."

"Who knows you're not with your parents?"

"My parents? And I suppose that they will have told some people as well."

"Like who?"

"I'm sorry, I really don't know."

"What _do you_ know?"

"Just what Cammie told me about the Circle and the Academy."

"Remind us."

"Well, I know that the Circle comes from Ioseph Cavan, and that he was an enemy of Gilly Gallagher. I also know that the Gallagher Academy trains spies, and that the Circle was after Cammie for a long while."

"Do you know that your father, at least, is or was part of the Inner Circle? That your ancestor Samuel P. Winters was a founding member?"

"I… found out recently. That's why I came here."

"Do your parents know you've found out?"

"Yes."

"Preston, just tell us everything."

"I overheard my dad talking to somebody about it and put the pieces together. My dad walked out of the room and saw me, but he told me to go to bed and that he would explain everything. Around three in the morning he woke me up, and he told me that my great-great-great or something grandfather had been one of the founders of the Circle of Cavan, and that my dad himself was actively participating in the running of it. Then he told me that a few people were trying to take over, and that those were the people who had been after Cammie. He made it sound like those people were the bad ones, and that even though the Circle was not necessarily one with the CIA, that they were not the bad guys. He asked me if I understood that one day it would be my responsibility, and I said yes. Then he sent me back to bed. I made a few calls and was here twelve hours later."

"Why did you come?"

"Because I don't trust the Circle. Because even though nobody has said so, I understand that the Inner Circle wants anybody who knows their names dead. And this includes Cammie. Because I also know that when the people trying to take over will attack my family, this will include me. And also because while I understand that you will not make a deal with the people that tried to kill Cammie and will still try to kill her, maybe some kind of safety bargain can be arranged so that neither my family nor she is hurt."

"So basically, you came here because we can keep you safe. And because you felt like you disagreed with both the Inner Circle and the splinter group," Mr. Solomon said.

"Yes," Preston said. Even though he had been around big security guys his whole life, Mr. Solomon seemed to scare him.

"So, what information do you have that can help us? Where are the other Inner Circle members? What are the names of the people in the splinter group? What are the assets of each group? How many isolated cells are there in the Circle of Cavan?"

"I… I don't know," he stammered.

"What did your father tell you, Preston?" Mr. Solomon pressed on.

"He didn't tell me much more than I already knew… Really."

Then Mr. Solomon straightened up and moved towards the boy. "So you expect us to protect you, from goodness knows what your father can summon, which probably includes all the assets of the Circle, the police, the CIA, and the FBI, not to mention international security agencies such as Interpol due to his status as Ambassador, plus the splinter group staging the coup who will be after you for hostage purposes; you expect us to manage all this when we already have plenty of other things on our hands and you can do nothing for us? No information to help us, even though you could have gotten it from your father simply by asking. No assurance that we have some time to bring you to safety even though you have a variety of resources on your hands which you could have easily used to pretend you're going on vacation for a month. You give us nothing and expect us to put precious lives in danger to protect you." He was terrifying. His eyes were dark and threatening, his tone dangerous, menacing and angry. "We should throw you our this very second and see what everybody will have to say to that. We can choose to have nothing more to do with the matter – the splinter group has the names, so does the CIA. The Circle can do whatever they want, but they have no reason to bother us other than revenge, and they have more pressing matters. Why would we ever bother with you?"

Preston was actually moved close to tears, and I was slightly horrified, although awed, and Mr. Solomon's performance. "I… I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I just had to get out of there, and… and this was the only safe place I could think of," Preston admitted. He looked at Macey, then at me, clearly looking for support. But both of our faces were as blank and hard as steel. "Besides!" he protested looking at Zach, "he's here, and his mother had a direct hand in murder attempts on most people in this room! And you've made him a student!"

"Yes, only that he himself has also had a bit of a hand in actually saving several lives in this room," Bex countered.

"I haven't had means or opportunity," Preston scowled.

"You've had means _and_ opportunity to give us a lot of potentially live-saving information," Aunt Abby told him.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "I'm really, honestly, truly sorry I just didn't think of it. I can try going back if you want me to, but I doubt that I would do much good."

"You're not doing good anywhere," Mr. Solomon scolded again. I was finding his treatment of Preston, who had hardly ever been spoken to openly rudely in his life rather amusing, but my mom decided to intervene.

"Nevertheless, we will let the boy stay. You're out of the hospital now, so he can have that room. Preston, don't you dare leave that room until we've decided what –"

She was cut off by the phone ringing. "Take him there. Do not let anybody see you, Cammie." I nodded and everybody left the room as she picked up.

We were almost out of the Hall of History when she yelled. "Come back in here!" With Preston in our midst, we hurried back to our positions. "I just call a call. Apparently, Preston Winters is missing. They want Macey and Cammie for questioning."

"Who?" I asked immediately.

"A team compromised of CIA, FBI, Interpol, and the police. Of course, most will not have the clearance to know anything about what has been going on."

"That's ridiculous. At least the CIA knows about the Ambassador. They can't just let that go like that!" Macey protested.

"Of course the CIA knows. And of course the CIA officer will have the clearance. You can – and should – tell him anything you would have told him a minute before Preston arrived here. To the CIA, you will say that you have not seen him since you were in Rome last time, and have had no contact."

"We actually sent a couple of emails back in November," Macey said. "They're nothing major, I can probably even print them off for the police."

"Yes, do that. Cammie, you haven't spoken to him, right?"

I shook my head.

"Then you both know what you are going to say to the CIA. You can even talk about his motives, or think of where he might go. But you have not seen him. Also, both of you are completely confident that if he should turn up at the school, I would tell you."

We nodded. I met her eyes, and could see she was nervous. I had been debriefed by the CIA before. Now we would have to lie. We had very good reasons to lie, but it was still… well… lying to the only people we have been told not to lie to.

"To Interpol you can say the same things as to the CIA – I have been assured that the clearance is high enough."

We nodded again.

"To the police, you will say nothing you would not say to an average civilian. Same with the FBI."

We nodded.

"In fact, a second FBI officer might question you, with a higher clearance. You will wait and see what he brings up."

We nodded.

"You shouldn't be nervous. You're good at this."

We nodded.

"Miss Morgan, miss McHenry. I've seen you lie. You shouldn't worry," Mr. Solomon chimed in.

"If you want, I have a very advanced Lie Detector in my room. It's probably better than those they will use. We could practice with them," Aunt Abby offered.

We nodded, but this time my heart for one was a bit lighter. I was, in fact, trained for this. I shouldn't be nervous. There was no reason to.

Mom smiled. "You have about an hour. So I'd suggest hurrying up. Bex and Liz can probably find you something to wear."

Townsend, who had been quiet up to now, offered to take Preston to his room. And lock him in.

"Another person who doesn't like me," Preston muttered.

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**So, Preston hasn't gotten the warmest welcome, and Cammie and Macey are potentially in a bit of trouble. Oh well. **

**Also, I'm on the lookout for a Beta, if anybody is interested, please PM me!**

**Happy Reviewing!**


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